UN spokesperson asked about Gaza civilian casualty figures cut in half
(Video: UN)
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) published new figures of civilians killed in Gaza, as the result of Israeli strikes, cutting the previous numbers in half. OCHA gave no explanation for the surprising new count that was released on May 10 just days after the earlier release of much higher figures on May 6 and May 8.
The UN now claims that in total 24,686 people were confirmed killed, including 7,797 children (32%), and4,959 women (20%.) Hamas figures claim 35,091 were killed since October 7, including 14,500 children and 9,500 women.
OCHA said it was relying on figures provided by the Palestinian health officials in Gaza and that their tally does not include 10,000 people who are unaccounted for, some possibly buried under rubble. In a disclaimer posted on OCHA's website, the organization said it has not been able to produce independent and verified figures.
"The current numbers have been provided by the Ministry of Health or the Government Media Office in Gaza and the Israeli authorities and await further verification. Other yet-to-be-verified figures are also sourced," the disclaimer reads.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres excused the discrepancies as the result of the fog of war and said OCHA received information from various sources and cross-checked them, updating the figures over time.
Israel has claimed since the early days of the war, that the Hamas health authorities in Gaza were providing the international organization with false figures. "OCHA is a disgrace," said an Israeli official. "They did not even bother to put out an announcement after cutting the number of women and children who had been killed nearly by half."
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Al Ahli hospital in Gaza after failed rocket launch causes a fire
(Photo: Mohammed Al-Masri / Reuters)
The Foreign Ministry said the casualty figures claimed by the Hamas terror group and quoted by UN agencies, are inaccurate, manipulated and do not reflect the reality. "We are still waiting for OCHA to own up to the fact that the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza in October, which was blamed on Israel, was the result of a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad," the ministry said of an incident that was confirmed by international intelligence agencies and humanitarian organizations not to have been caused by an Israeli strike.
The ministry went on to say that OCHA still had not issued any condemnation of the use of hospital facilities and infrastructure, by Hamas for terrorism or the use of other civilian infrastructure by the terrorists for the same aim.
"All that is consistently ignored by OCHA which has been publishing Hamas propaganda in its reports without any process of verification in what has been proven as a defective and unprofessional methodology. We call on the international community to take OCHA's reports with a grain of salt."